The Pirin resort of Bansko can compete for one of the shiniest ski resorts in "new" Europe, with a gleaming blue gondola for skiers and snowboarders, ski centers and schools, two chair-lifts and 17 pistes, including a 16km run from beneath the summit down to the outskirts of the charming town.

The carefully groomed runs equipped with dozens of cannons for making artificial snow, ski passes fitted with pocket-readable micro-chips, and rescue services constantly on alert Bansko is no longer down-at-heel mountain hideaway as in communist times, the Financial Times wrote.

It also remembered that the Sofia-base Ulen has invested EUR 40 M to install a state-of-the art ski facility, with equipment specifically designed for piste and weather conditions on the Pirin slopes.

Local tour operators offer guided cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing across the pine-clad lower slopes, as well as the opportunity to try out skills at the biathlon, a testing mix of shooting and skiing.

The FT pointed out on the growing familiarity of foreigners with Bulgaria pouring money into holiday homes along the Black Sea coastline and investing instead of renting as expatriates in Sofia. It would make it only logical that ski resorts are the next in line for a property spending spree, the article concluded.